Robert A. McColley (born October 14, 1984) is a Senator for the 1st District of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

, which includes Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, and Williams counties, as well as parts of Auglaize, Fulton, and Logan counties. McColley graduated from

Napoleon High School (Ohio) Napoleon High School is a public high school in Napoleon, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Napoleon Area City School District. Their nickname is the Wildcats. They are a member of the Northern Lakes League. Academics The Napoleon school d ...

in 2003 and then went on to attend

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

with a major in

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

. He then attended the

University of Toledo College of Law The University of Toledo College of Law is the law school at the University of Toledo, and is located on the university's main campus in a residential neighborhood in western Toledo, Ohio. The school is fully accredited by the American Bar Associa ...

and graduated with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 2010. Prior to being appointed to the Senate, he represented the 81st Ohio House District as a State Representative where he also served in House leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Before being elected State Representative, he served in the Community Improvement Corporation of Henry County, where he oversaw economic development efforts for the county and worked to improve local workforce development efforts between manufacturers and schools in Henry and Williams counties. McColley lives in Napoleon with his wife, Denise, their daughter Anna, and their twin boys Matthew and Michael. In May 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, McColley and Senator Kristina Roegner introduced a bill that would immediately end Ohio's stay-at-home order and limit the state health director's ability to give similar orders. The bill is contrary to the recommendation of the country's top medical experts; Governor DeWine has promised to veto any bill that curb's the health director's authority during the crisis. In 2021, McColley was the lead sponsor on legislation that would make it harder to build solar and wind energy projects in Ohio. Solar and wind energy projects could be killed by local officials, whereas natural gas and oil projects could not. In 2021, McColley defended a proposed redistricting map for Ohio that was heavily gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.

Abortion legislation

In 2019, McColley co-sponsored Ohio Senate Bill 23, commonly referred to as the "Heartbeat Bill." This legislation bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable, typically around six weeks into pregnancy—before many people are aware they are pregnant. The bill includes no exceptions for rape or incest. It was signed into law by Governor

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine ( ; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th List of governors of Ohio, governor of Ohio since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served a ...

on April 11, 2019. McColley’s support for SB 23 was part of a broader legislative agenda to curtail abortion rights in Ohio. The bill was one of the strictest abortion bans enacted in the country at the time and generated significant legal and public backlash. In 2022, a Hamilton County court issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the law, restoring abortion access in the state up to 22 weeks of pregnancy while legal challenges moved forward.

Committee assignments

During the 134th General Assembly, McColley was assigned to the following committees: * (Chair of) Energy and Public Utilities Committee * (Vice Chair of) Judiciary Committee * (Vice Chair of) Government Oversight and Reform Committee * Workforce and Higher Education Committee * Rules and Reference Committee

References

Links

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, - 1984 births 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Living people Ohio State University Fisher College of Business alumni People from Napoleon, Ohio Republican Party Ohio state senators University of Toledo College of Law alumni {{Ohio-OHSenate-stub